While the anticipation of the announcement led to much hand-wringing among athletic directors and among the N.C.A.A. compliance community, what sort of precedent this punishment sets remains unclear.
The precedent for punishment remains the three-match suspension handed to Liverpool's Jamie Carragher for a similar misdemeanour some six years ago, with Chelsea to consider internal disciplinary punishment once the FA has ruled on the matter.
There is little precedent for punishments involving workout violations and contact between N.B.A. representatives and amateur players.
When the trustees became immersed recently in a battle over a proposed nightclub at 38 Gramercy Park North, the unthinkable prospect sparked the exploration of a precedent-setting punishment: if 38 Gramercy's board persisted in bringing a bar to the park, a direct affront to the 1831 Ruggles indenture, perhaps the building deserved to forfeit its park keys.
This year's crop of consent orders does contain some precedent-setting punishments.
Christian leaders like Pat Robertson, who cite biblical precedent for capital punishment, typically insist they want to preserve the death penalty only for the most heinous crimes (Robertson has called for a moratorium on the practice, but not the principle, of the death penalty).
There is a precedent of severe punishment for biting in rugby.
And yet, if Mr. Ravi spends years in prison, his case will set an alarming precedent of disproportional punishment.
Aside from that, there is little historical precedent for the punishment meted out to the seven members of Italy's National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks, which they are appealing.
DealBook » Judge's Ruling Undermines Longstanding S.E.C. Policy | The decision by Judge Jed S. Rakoff to block the settlement between Citigroup and the Securities and Exchange Commission could set a precedent for harsher punishment on Wall Street, some experts say, according to The New York Times.
